Sub 3

jools - i did actually believe you, just said that I found it strange it hurt to run. Think I'll keep quiet now.

CL -- well done in your races. Hope the 10M didn't require excessive use of the whip!

I'm with Padams & RS78 -- I like HM (and 10M) as short enough to still be pushing hard, but long enough to need a bit of planned endurance. Whereas the first half of a marathon feels like a doddle to get over with before the real business begins.

Good luck with the pain in the neck, Jools. Could it be a musical injury?

You're doing some serious training for the ultra, Padams -- I'll wager you'll set a course record that will stand for years to come. So long as you don't get lost!

Just a little 3M tootle round town for me this morning, but with no race this weekend I'll do something longer tomorrow. I realise I'm in danger of having had a good consistent streak with barely a niggle-- I've now done 14 weeks averaging ~40 M/week, and that's before the marathon season starts...

And welcome One Gear!

Jools.. get well soon & all that.  My neck once went sideways past the 'end stop' in my sleep and after the initial discomfort wore off I got shooting nerve tingles down my back once in a while.  Put itself right eventually.

Padams.. cracking effort for a Saturday, still top of the weekend calorie burning table I reckon!  Good luck in the XC.

CL.. sounds like decent placing in the XC; and well done at Epsom too.

TR.. nice effort on the turbo.

RS.. good training on rough & bumpy terrain.

Bit of an off day for me at the Parkrun, 20:28 was all I could muster.  The old legs didn't want to play in 1 degree temps & 30m visibility.  Still, a nice early cold blast and the nice thing about 5k's is if you do have an off day you can come back in a week or two and try again.  1st in my age group was little consolation as I was thoroughly out-codgered by a rival V60 who logged 19:34.  Nevertheless I shook him firmly by the hand and told him to enjoy his post race mince pie & sherry.

Wardi - you always benefit from those parkruns whatever the time

CW - those Mudclaw 300s felt pretty good, excellent grip but still pretty light, They're definitely not yellow anymore, lol I was talking to a couple of the guys from the fell running club and they suggested an A rated medium distance race in the lakes in May/June to gain entry in a long fell race in the lakes ranked as AL. You get vetted apparently. Borrowdale race in August is 17 miles and meant to be amzing and there's Wasdale horseshoe in July too.

Edit: While I feel pretty strong going uphill, Im pretty shit coming down compared to others, blimey

Left hamstring is properly mashed and can't find the bloody foam roller anywhere. Shit weather tomorrow but may go out for 5-6

Glad you got on well with the shoes, RS. I've got Roclite 312 GTX (for family walks/rocky adventures), XTalon 190s (for XC/multiterrain races) and as-yet-unworn pair of XTalon 212s to replace my retired (now stud-free!) ones for mixed terrain training and icy commutes, which I bought using race voucher booty. I've got on well with all of those. However, the Road XLite 155s were too thin for my feet and don't have good grip either, so I'm sticking with the off-road offerings. I looked into the Borrowdale fell race as we turned up in Kewswick on the very day of it two holidays in a row, so I saw you need to qualify to enter. For me though it wouldn't be worth trekking to the Lakes from Cambridge to do a race. (What's "AL"?)

First 20M for ages today, and felt like it too -- a rather laboured effort, with the wind blowing me all over the place. Nominally "light fartlek" but "mixed pace long run" (MPLR?) would be fairer. Overall 20.2M @ 7:18/M with 16 stints of higher effort (some short sprints, some single miles).

Jools - I've had the odd dodgy neck that affects me for varying amounts of time.  No idea what causes it other than possibly sleeping awkwardly.  I do appreciate how even running at an easy pace can be difficult though; I abandoned a track session only a couple of weeks ago because the jog warm-up was too uncomfortable.  I recommend wine.

Re: HM/marathon pace relationship.  I have to go back 4 years for a direct comparison = 28s/mile, although I was running to a target at Paris and could've squeezed out a couple more minutes perhaps.  If I can convert my HM pb to within 20s/mile I'd be looking at sub-2:35, which would be very nice indeed.

Nice to meet CL and a few other familiar faces at the South of the Thames XC yesterday.  I probably wouldn't have turned up at all if it hadn't been a team race - had a dodgy night's sleep and woke up with yet another head cold, but felt OK in the body and chest was clear, so turned out and actually had a decent run.  15th overall, and 6th scorer for the club, which meant I was part of the ''B team'' that came 3rd in the team competition, behind the front 4 in 2nd. Had a nifty finishing spurt as well, making up one place on the final descent and clocking a 5:40 split for the last mile.  Still feeling snivvly today but managed a very easy paced 15 miles this morning.  Pub roast to follow.

CW - most races in the lakes are A category (I think) and that relates to the height gain per km or something. They're then divided into short, medium, long distance wise(S,M,L). Medium races are about 9-11 miles I think and long races like Borrowdale are 17 miles. The race I'm doing on the 9th is a "BM". To enter the long lakes races I think you have to have raced a couple of medium races somewhere atleast. The Fairfield horseshoe next May is an "AM" and has been recommended to me as a good entry race. Yeah wouldn't be worth the travel from where you are. Nice 20m by the way.

PP - good xc/15m combo

Good work there PP

CW - up to 20M again already

Wardi - shame that your streak of strong runs ended, temporary blip no doubt.

Pretty achy and tired so I wasnt really up for the Hayling 10M trail and road race today. but pinning a number on always seems to help, although my legs havnt run fast for a while.  Anyone that found GSR windy should have been down here today, I thought I was going to need a chin strap for my running cap. 2M inland, 2M back down the Hayling trail which was pretty muddy and slippery, then up and down the seafront. 61:22 for 10th place, 1st pikey and 3rd coffin dodger. Won some prize money that I gave to the SPO, I cant be having that given how hard i try to maintain my numpty amateur status.

Safety pins are going away til the Stubbington 10k, my tight hammy was tighter than I'd like by the end. With a few more miles through Jan to Mar I should be ok to keep the sub3 streak going.

Thanks for the explanation, RS. Good weekend for you too PP.

TR -- ain't that 3 mins off your cherished soft 10M PB, despite the gale? And prize money to boot -- nice one. You must actually be on pretty good running form (shouldn't be surprised with all those training run/swim/run trebles etc.)

CW - despite only doing 5 or 6milers recently (although some are 5 and 5 commutes) it does seem that my fitness is good, I've been working hard on the turbo a lot though so that probably transfers. My 64min PB still stands as my road PB, today was a road and trail race !

Congrats on the podium & prize TR, hope the SPO spends it wisely!

Nice 20m Charlie, though it's not like you to be niggle free.  Surely there must be something aching? 

Good work at the XC PP, particularly as you're a bit off colour.

15.4m done today.  It rained heavily from 5pm last night to 8am this morning, as a result my usual country lane route had water where I've never seen water before!  Managed to get my feet wet 4 times in floods on-road so I wasn't going to risk going anywhere off road!    

Nice podium TR! What does the P stand for is SPO?

Nicely done on the podium and pb TR! Bodes well.

Sorry to hear the neck is no better Jools.

Nice repping Al_P.

Cracking running Padams.

Nice xc-ing PP. Congrats on the team medal.

93m for the week for me, which was pleasing, especially given what I've got on at the moment. Feel a little less fat, unfit and slow than at the start of the week. Nothing special during it, but did finish off with a 4m tempo this morning @ 5:51 which was a little quicker than I expected.

anyone read a book called "Running with the Kenyans"? worst book ever. Boring, zero insight into his chosen subject. Written in the present tense, so irritating to read. Don't add it to your xmas list.

CC2.. SPO = Sports Prevention Officer!  BTW I found this little gem in my collection of 45rpm singles - one of my desert island discs and surely one of the Goth culture's finest moments?

TT.. good mileage clocked - you should be able to fit into your jeans again now!

I'll knock that one off my list then Dids!

Lord Didsbury wrote (see)

Anyone read a book called "Running with the Kenyans"? 

I read it recently. Very promising subject matter but I found the the tone throughout 'odd'. Before you brand it the worst book ever you should try something by Dean Karnazes.

Not much running done this week but did the UKA cross challenge in Liverpool yesterday as it incorporates our mid lancs league fixture. Very muddy and managed 170th overall, but 18th (I think) place in our league so happy with that.

Not had time to read back all the way yet, but from what I can see there's been some good performances with XC, also nice PB and prize for TR.

Lack of time sums my last week up, got my key sessions done, but not a lot else this week. A nice 8 with 4 tempo miles on Tuesday, a few 800 reps on Thursday and a longer one yesterday. So kept myself ticking over.

This weeks looking a bit better, so hopefully get a little more in.

Have a 10k booked for the day after boxing day so that's my next planned race, going to do a club XC in a couple of weeks too.

TR - well raced esp if some of it was trail.

Andy - well done in the xc

Zattu - 93 miles!!

Wardi - solid (as ever) 15 miles

Weather is atrocious up here today, maybe an excuse to give myself another day off and rest the hamstring. Might go out for a trott later on and give it a good stretch after. Bit like TR it feels far tighter than it should do so an easy week of running/rest is probably called for. I'd like to aim at Albert Park parkrun in Boro on sat which is a fast one but we'll see. Need the legs to be 100% for that fell race.